Sunday, March 1, 2015

The long-awaited Theonomy debate between Theonomist Joel McDurmon of American Vision and Pastor J.D. Hall of Pulpit and Pen has taken place, and has been posted by American Vision. Pastor Hall does an excellent job in this debate of biblically demonstrating the errant views of Theonomy, which flow out of the Dominionist view held by Theonomists.

The debate can be watched here, but don't miss the Q/A session, posted just below the debate.

Here is the Question and Answer session that took place immediately following the debate. And don't miss the part in this session where McDurmon casually discusses stoning for lawbreakers as if it were no big thing. Silly me, I thought the idea of stoning was the dirty little secret that Theonomists always wanted to keep under wraps, but boom, there it was.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

"They exchanged God’s truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." (Romans 1:25)

Conservation International recently released a video series (entitled Nature Is Speaking) designed to promote environmental awareness, but which also contains a strong "anti-human" bias. The series features the voices of Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton, and others. Listen as Julia Roberts narrates Part 1, as a "Mother Nature" who is self aware, has cognitive function, transcends mankind and can communicate. In other words, a form of Deity.

"Mother Nature" (as voiced by Julia Roberts):

"I've been here for eons. I have fed species greater than you. And I have starved species greater than you. MY oceans. MY soil. MY flowing streams. MY forests. They all can take you or leave you."

I'm a former hard-core, Militant Eco-Greenie, so I know this worldview that these actors are giving voice to from the inside. But these are scary videos!

And here is Harrison Ford, in Part 2, as "The Ocean":

"Humans? They're no different (from any other creature on the earth). I don't owe them a thing. I give. They take. But I can always take back. That's the way it's always been. It's not their planet anyway. Never was, never will be. But humans, they take more than their share.........I'm only going to say this once, if nature isn't kept healthy, humans won't survive."

This worldview, in which God-like characteristics are ascribed to nature, is in distinct contrast to the biblical worldview that our world, and nature, exist and are sustained by our sovereign creator God, and that He alone is the one who ensures that our planet continues. Yes, Christians should not pollute, and should be good stewards of the earth on which they live, but ultimately, it is God who ordains how long this earth will be in existence.

And again, note that the created thing in question here ("The Ocean") is Deified as a transcendent being who is self aware, has cognitive function, and can communicate.

There is a disdain for man that can clearly be heard in these videos. This is in distinct contrast to the biblical view of man, which is that he was made in the image of God, and is endowed with characteristics which animals do not possess, such as imagination, creativity, and spiritual longing. This last characteristic, when not properly fulfilled by knowing and worshiping the Creator, the God of the Bible, will be manifest in one way or another. Humans will worship, and in the end they will either properly worship God, or they will worship lesser things (idols), worship from which they will ultimately never derive happiness and fulfillment. When man rejects God, and chooses instead to worship lesser things, these lesser things can take many forms: nature (as shown in these videos), but also themselves, power, money, pleasure, food, nature, sex, etc., etc. The creative, God-given mind, when not properly submitted to God, will find endless things to pursue and worship.

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'" (Genesis 1:26)

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?" (Psalm 8:3-4)

Our children need to understand that when they go into the world, the worldview presented in these videos is the predominant worldview. It's pantheism. Teach them how to strike down worldly wisdom raised up on opposition to God with spiritual, not carnal, weapons (2 Cor 10:5). Train them to explain to the lost that this earth is not our home (Heb 13:14), that God alone numbers our days (Psalm 139:16), and that heavens and the earth will one day pass away, but that God's word will never pass away (Matt 24:35).

God, not Mother Nature, is the Deity who presides over human beings, the earth, our solar system, and the entire universe. He alone causes it, all of it, to hold together, and to exist.

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Col 1:17)

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind." (Isaiah 65:17)

I'm writing this not as one who disdains and looks down on the lost who hold these views, but as a former Militant Eco-Greenie. I was sold out for years to this worldview of nature worship, in which creation is Deified. I was sold out, that is, until someone took the time to patiently share Christ with me. And only then was I able to exchange the worship of created things for the worship of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Justin Edwards of airō website has just recently published an excellent article entitled Christian Submission vs Belligerent Discontentment Before Civil Authorities. The article is about Theonomist Matthew Trewhella, and his views on how Christians should live under tyranny. As a side note, Theonomy as a movement within Christendom continues to gather steam and roll along, so I'm glad we have a few Christian men today who are aware of it, and are willing to publicly oppose their views. Here is an excerpt from Justin's article:

'Everyone innately knows that it’s an honest and just thing to depose a tyrant…everyone knows it’s a just and noble thing to do, except of course the effeminate, the culture in which we have in this nation now after much conditioning by the media in our country, and the government schools. And also it doesn’t make no [sic] sense to your average butt-faced Christian who’s been raised in American 20th century Christianity, now 21st century Christianity, because they have no idea '[sarcasm] how could killing, how can anything other than love, have anything to do with God?” Right? Am I right? Of course I’m right. It’s the state of Christianity we live in. But anyone who hasn’t been ruined by those two things – rotten American Christianity or American culture…knows perfectly well it’s honorable and just to kill a tyrant.''"

Contrast Trewhella's view that it is "biblical" and "dutiful" for citizens to assassinate tyrannical kings with:

▪ Daniel, who faithfully served under tyrannical king Nebuchadnezzar, who so valued Daniel that he sought his counsel and honored him (Daniel 2:46-49, Daniel 4:18), and

▪ Mordecai, who faithfully served under tyrannical king Ahasuerus, to the point of warning Ahasuerus about an assassination attempt that Mordecai overheard being plotted against the king (Esther 2:21-23), rather than joining in on the assassination plotting/attempt (as Trewhella counsels)

Wouldn't this be the equivalent of a Christian today serving under our own "tyrannical king" in the form of President Obama? Can we even imagine a Christian of today serving under Obama with such respect and kindness toward him that President Obama knew that this person genuinely cared for him, and knew that he (Obama) could seek him out for wise counsel?

After one of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, which he went to Daniel for interpretation for, Daniel said to wicked king, whom he obviously cared for, that he wished this dream would happen to those opposed to the king, rather than to the king. He genuinely cared for King Nebuchadnezzar......and King Nebuchadnezzar knew it.

Daniel 4:19 - "Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while (after the king told him his dream) as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries!’"

I hear a lot of disdain from politically involved Christians today toward President Obama. Don't get me wrong: I'm a Republican and very conservative and I oppose basically everything that Obama does. But he IS the king/president who has been ordained by God to rule over us, and aren't we commanded to show him respect as our ruler? And above and beyond that, aren't we biblically bound to care for him as a human being who is made in the image of God?

I'm saying all this to express what I am coming to understand about how it is that Christians should live with respect to others. Should we disdain and hate them and talk unkindly about them, like so many do about President Obama? and about Muslims? Or should we live so kindly and peaceably with them and among them that they really do see something in us that is different from the self-seeking and self-gratification that they see in so many others? and they know they can seek us out for truth, integrity and wise counsel (as Nebuchadnezzar did with Daniel, and Ahasuerus did with Mordecai)?

I'll close with one last thought: how do Theonomists reconcile their views with Romans 13, which the Apostle Paul penned while living under the reign of wicked King Nero? a king so wicked and so malevolent toward Christians that he would impale them on stakes, and then line the roads into Rome with them, and set them on fire. This was to show the world what he thought of Christians and how he intended to treat them. But did the Apostle Paul advocate the assassination of King Nero? No. Consider instead that he wrote Romans 13:

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." (Romans 13:1-7)

Note that in the Facebook discussion above, Pastor Trewhella claimed that his sermon did not "properly convey" what he wanted to say, and that he would never "go around encouraging people to kill government officials."

In response to this statement by Pastor Trewhella, Pastor Phil Johnson of GTY responded thusly:

"Mr. Trewhella's statement 'It’s time for men in this nation to raise up and start killing some tyrants. Plain and simple--' is hardly an insignificant slip of the tongue. It's nice that he's sorry he said it, but it raises a fair question about his fitness for public ministry. And putting a short disclaimer in a 50-comment thread on someone else's FaceBook page hardly fixes the problem. Back in the 1990s......a theonomic Presbyterian (PCA and OPC ordained) minister named Paul Hill was using similar arguments and spouting similar rhetoric specifically with regard to government protection of abortion providers. His life story would be an instructive read for anyone inclined to give credence to Mr. Trewhella's grandiloquence. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Jennings_Hill

I'm also curious about Pastor Trewhella's claim that his statement was misconstrued, and that he would never advocate for tyrannical rulers to be assassinated. If this is the case, what then, did he mean? Consider the following:

If Matricide means to kill your mother, and
If Patricide means to kill your father, and
If Infanticide means to kill your infant,
What does Tyrannicide mean?

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Below is a compilation of articles on Christians and Conspiracy Theories. These articles were written in order to biblically address the reality of conspiracy theory websites that Christians are sometimes drawn to, but which we feel are unbiblical and cause Christians to become unbalanced and unsteady in their walks. Be blessed.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Posted by Christine Pack and Cathy MathewsIn the past few days, we've written extensively about Christians and the conspiracy theories, and the wisdom of such a focus. We want to make it clear that just because biblical history records conspiracies doesn't mean that as believers we should study conspiracies. There is plenty of evil in the world that is plain, that we already know of, that we should address. We don't need to decode Katy Perry's or Madonna's or Beyonce's song lyrics according to some conspiracy theory website in order to determine that they are wicked and promoting a wicked lifestyle. It's plain to see from what they have recorded and how they live.With this is mind, please consider the following two examples for witnessing to the lost:

THE BIBLICAL WAY:

Christian to a lost person: "Did you notice what Katy Perry was singing about in the half-time show? Her lyrics encourage out-of-wedlock sex and homosexuality. The Bible teaches that fidelity in marriage is a good thing and that we should flee from homosexual sin, let me show you.

Lost person: It does? Okay, can you show me that?

contrasted with......

THE CONSPIRACY THEORIST'S WAY:

Christian to a lost person: Did you watch Katy Perry's Super Bowl performance? First of all, she's the woman who rides the beast from Revelation 17. And about that costume, did you notice....(insert four thousand more words here on the costumes, symbols and hand signals of the half-time show)."

Lost person: Zzzzzzzz (asleep)

Romans 1 and Suppressing The Truth In Unrighteousness The Bible is all we need in terms of understanding why the lost are enslaved to Satan. Romans 1 stands in stark contrast to the claims of conspiracy theorists on how people become enslaved to sin, which is that these symbols, or hand signals, or corporate logos, or whatever, somehow "condition" people to accept Satan's schemes. But this is simply not true. When unconverted people stand before God at their judgment, God will not say:

"You were under Satan's spell because you looked at a symbol. It was a Satanic symbol, but because you didn't take the time to study symbols, and therefore identify one correctly, you were put into bondage under Satan."

Nor will He say:

"Remember that ad you saw in the magazine that time. Well, it had an embedded Satanic message that your subconscious mind saw, and this ensnared you in Satan's trap. Too bad there was nobody schooled in 'visual literacy' that could have pointed this out to you." ('Visual literacy' is a term that was used by a recent commenter to explain why Christians need to study symbols for occult meaning, and warn others about them.)

No....but what God will say is something like this:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." (Romans 1:18-25)

They will be condemned because although God makes His existence self-evident and plain to men, they suppress this truth in unrighteousness.Men love their sin.This is what binds men to Satan.Men are not ensnared unknowingly and unwillingly through subliminal messages or imbedded symbols, but are enslaved knowingly and willingly through denying the clear evidence of their Creator and refusing to honor Him as God or give Him thanks. They refuse to come to Him on the terms He has given (faith in His Son Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins).That's it. And that is God's own prescription for what enslaves people. God's Children Marked By Love No-one's denying that there is a coming Antichrist or dark times ahead for believers. We're just discouraging the fearmongering websites that cause believers to become, in our experience, angry, paranoid, panicky and mean-spirited when biblically challenged about the wisdom of looking at conspiracy websites. We're not saying all those who frequent conspiracy websites are this way. But Christians are told by God that they WILL be marked by love. Well, many of the conspiracy theorists who have come onto our Facebook wall to debate this in the past few days have been mean, foul-mouthed, unkind, panicky and angry. Those are not the fruits of the Spirit. A Final Appeal Let me close with a direct appeal to our friends, the conspiracy theorists: please understand that our desire really is to see Christians who are caught up in conspiratorial thinking to become free from this snare. Because even if it's ALL true, every bit of it, so what? What are you going to do with all this information that you get from your conspiracy websites? Are you going to storm the doors and demand answers? They shoot people at the White House for that. You know that, right? What about the resorts where the world leaders are (allegedly) meeting to conspire evil? You can't get in there, it's a gated community, and even if you could, what would you do? Pass out You Might Be An Illuminati Member If..... pamphlets? They'll cart you off and lock you up in a padded cell.I mean honestly, what is the point of looking at this stuff, and supposedly "educating yourself" on it all? What is the end-game for it? What lost people need is not a dissertation on evil. They need Christ. They need the gospel message. They need to be helped to understand what sin is, and then told that they need to repent and believe on Christ for the forgiveness of sins.Let's keep our eyes on the Christ, and make sure we're keeping our hearts pure, and making sure our time is being spent on a BALANCED study of the Scriptures.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:16-17)

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Phil 4:8)

"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." (1 Peter 3:15)

"The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day." (Prov 4:18)

So let's keep the main thing the main thing. Preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. And when souls are saved through the preaching of the gospel, those new believers WILL leave behind the trappings of the world of their own accord, because He who has begun good work in them will bring it to completion, will He not?

We understand that there are conspiracy theory ministries who are doing what they think is right, and that, for them, that involves decoding conspiracies and showing Christians that symbols are spiritually compromising them and indoctrinating their children into evil.

We are equally passionately about our position, which we believe is the biblical one. We believe we fight this spiritual battle first and foremost by contending for truth (Jude 1:3) and by contending against arguments and vain speculations raised up in opposition to the Lord.

We also believe it is important to warn Christians against putting undue focus on things we're not commanded to. Scriptures by which we are constrained in this area are Ephesians 6:17, Colossians 2:8 and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:

"Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:17)

"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." (Colossians 2:8)

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." (2 Cor 10:3-5)

The John MacArthur NASB study notes on these passages are as follows (I have highlighted in red the passages that I think particularly apply):

EPHESIANS 6:17

'the sword of the Spirit' As the sword was the soldier's only weapon, so God's Word is the only needed weapon, infinitely more powerful than any of Satan's. The Greek term refers to a small weapon (6-18 inches long). It was used both defensively to fend off Satan's attacks, and offensively to help destroy the enemy's strategies. It is the truth of Scripture.

COLOSSIANS 2:8

'takes you captive' this is the term for robbery. False teachers who are successful in getting people to believe lies rob them of truth, salvation and blessing.

'philosophy and empty deception' 'Philosophy' (lit. 'love of wisdom') appears only here in the NT. The word referred to more than merely the academic discipline, but described any theory about God, the world, or the meaning of life. Those embracing the Colossian heresy used it to describe the supposed higher knowledge they claimed to have attained. Paul, however, equates the false teachers' philosophy with 'empty' or worthless 'deception.' (Cf. 1Ti 6:20; see note on 2Cor 10:5).

'the elementary principles of the world.' (see note on Gal 4:3) Far from being advanced, profound knowledge, the false teachers' beliefs were simplistic and immature, like all the rest of the speculations, ideologies, philosophies, and psychologies the fallen satanic and human system invents.

2 CORINTHIANS 10:3-5

'war according to the flesh' Although a man, Paul did not fight the spiritual battle for men's souls using human ingenuity, worldly wisdom, or clever methodologies. Such impotent weapons are powerless to free souls from the forces of darkness and bring them to maturity in Christ. They cannot successfully oppose Satanic assaults on the gospel, such as those made by the false apostles at Corinth.

'our warfare' The motif of the Christian life as warfare is a common one.

'of the flesh' Human.

'fortresses' The metaphor would have been readily understandable to the Corinthians since Corinth, like most ancient cities, had a fortress (on top of a hill south of the city) in which its residents could take refuge. The formidable spiritual strongholds manned by the forces of hell can be demolished only by spiritual weapons wielded by godly believers—singularly the “sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17), since only the truth of God’s Word can defeat satanic falsehoods. This is the true spiritual warfare. Believers are not instructed in the New Testament to assault demons or Satan (Jude 9), but to assault error with the truth. That is our battle (John 17:17; Hebrews 4:12).

'speculations' Thoughts, ideas, reasonings, philosophies, and false religions are the ideological forts in which men barricade themselves against God and the gospel.

'every thought captive' Emphasizes the total destruction of the fortresses of human and satanic wisdom and the rescuing of those inside from the damning lies that had enslaved them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In contrast to those who believe that evil symbols have inherent power to spiritually compromise people, we believe that the Bible is clear that it is ideologies that are transmitted through words which ensnare and spiritually compromise people. Simply put, ours is a battle of ideas and truth claims.

We're not doubting or minimizing the cunning and guile of the devil. We're not saying that evil doesn't exist, and that Satan isn't real. We affirm that evil exists, and the Satan is real, and that he prowls around the earth, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

We don't deny that symbols exist. We don't deny that symbols mean certain things to certain people. But just as we cannot know why someone might wear a cross without asking them, we cannot know why they are wearing a different symbol unless we ask them. So instead of spending hours researching the possible meanings, one can simply ask. The meaning of symbols change over time and therefore aren't a fixed reference. What a person believes, confesses, and lives out is what matters. Symbols have no inherent power. Period. I (Cathy) wore a cross as an unbeliever. It certainly didn't mean that I was saved. Unfortunately, for people who give weight and credence to symbols, it would have given a false assurance that I was identified with the Lord Jesus Christ, when I most certainly was not.

Satan doesn't work his evil through symbols. He works his evil through ideas that are conveyed with words. You don't witness to a lost person ensnared in evil by giving them a dissertation on symbols and the Illuminati. Neither will you find any model or command for that anywhere in scripture. You convey to them, with words, the truth of Jesus Christ and him crucified for the forgiveness of sins.

And when a person is saved, they will leave their wickedness behind on their own accord, in the same way that as a new believer, I (Christine) gathered up 3 garbage bags full of occult materials that I had in my house and destroyed them. I didn't destroy them because they had inherent power, but because they were part of a life that belonged to a person I no longer was. I was born again, with new beliefs, and new desires. The old was gone, and the new had come.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Cor 5:17)

We urge Christians not to waste time researching symbols and their supposed connections to (alleged) secret societies on fearmongering conspiracy websites that are sensationalistic and only feed the flesh, only to reach conclusions that are already explicitly stated in scripture: people are born depraved and are in the kingdom of darkness and are the children of Satan and enslaved to him and to sin. They will remain in this state until and if they hear the gospel and are converted and transferred into the Kingdom of light. And when souls are saved, those new believers will leave behind the trappings of the world of their own accord.

Ours is not a battle of flesh and blood, but of truth, ideological truth, which we must use words to communicate. Simply put, we preach Jesus Christ and him crucified for the forgiveness of sins, and this for the salvation of souls, and to the glory of God.

It's interesting to note that the above was reported in a tongue-in-cheek way by MTV, but this doesn't help the conspiracy theorists, whose ability to decode Illuminati conspiracies is high, but their ability to decode cheeky commentary is apparently non-existent. (Conspiracy theory website Now The End Begins ran with the headline Madonna Dances Over Pit of Horned Demons at 2015 Grammys.)

In reality, Madonna gave a performance that featured a matador theme, and which included horn-hatted dancers who did look something like how we might imagine Satan's minions to look.

Friends, this is not Illuminati indoctrination. This is just celebrities riding the wave of the culture. They love to shock and outdo each other and be outrageous. And besides, I've always had a theory about Madonna, who was raised Roman Catholic, that at heart (besides being a sinner), she's just a Catholic schoolgirl who wants to shock the nuns.

To be clear: there's no question about the fact that Madonna lives and promotes a wicked lifestyle. But no, she's not a member of the Illuminati.

Steady on, folks. Respond to the evil that you know of (which is readily known through the content of Madonna's songs and lifestyle), and "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).

★★ And PLEASE do not see this as an opportunity to mock or ridicule Madonna. She's a lost person, living a depraved lifestyle, but at one time "such were some of you" (1 Cor 6:11). Pray for her. Pray for someone to have access to her who can give her the gospel, the TRUE gospel, which she undoubtedly never heard, having grown up Roman Catholic. ★★